PASTOR'S CORNER

Eph 1:7-10 The Gospel of Jesus Christ is a scandalous message of redeeming grace. What do I mean that it’s scandalous? Scandalous by definition is “Causing general public outrage by a perceived offense against morality or law.”  The world at large see’s Jesus and the gospel as hate speech; the gospel is a major threat to our so called “Civilization”.  This message is so scandalous the Jews and Greeks didn’t get because of their ignorance to the truth of the gospel and Jesus Christ.  To the Jew, the Gospel was the worst sort of blasphemy because it claimed that the Nazarene who died accursed on Calvary was the Messiah.  To the Greeks, it was the worst sort of absurdity because it claimed that “Jesus” this Jewish Messiah was God in the flesh.  The Apostle Paul wrote “For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs a...

Eph 1:5-6 I want you think about this statement by A W Pink in his book “The Attributes Of God” as we continue in this letter by the Apostle Paul. W Pink said “In the beginning, God” There was no Heaven, where His glory is now particularly manifested. There was no earth to engage His attention. There were no angels to hymn His praises; no universe to be upheld by the word of His power. There was nothing, no one, but God; and that, not for a day, a year, or an age, but “from everlasting.” During a past eternity, God was alone: self-contained, self-sufficient, self-satisfied; in need of nothing. Had a universe, had angels, had human beings been necessary to Him in any way, they also had been called into existence from all eternity. The creating of them when He did added nothing to God essentially. He changes not as Mal 3;6, therefore His essential glory can be neither augmented or diminished. God was under no constraint, no obligation, no necessity to create….He chose t...

Eph 1:1-14 We are so blessed with spiritual blessing in heavenly places and it’s all because of Jesus Christ.  We cannot fathom how blessed we truly are until we see the beauty of the gospel that saved our own wretched lives.  Until we can see the glorious Christ who died in our place.  Until we can taste the grace of His mercy, the One who called us out of darkness.  Because our life apart from Christ was a life of darkness and for many years I enjoyed that dark night.  Jesus said this “And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.” John 3:19.  This was my life until one day He illuminated the truth into my heart and I saw my sin for what it was…….”Evil”  This is the power of God unto salvation, not my ability to get myself right with a holy God who has every right to destroy Mike Andrews. This is the beauty of God’s calling!  We have b...